Lessons

I have learned I am a mercy-shower. Yet, to shower mercy one must have experienced it. My God has doused me with cleansing mercy over and over again. The overspray is what I extend to others. Let me say, they don’t always appreciate it. Some, I suspect, find it annoying as if I am flicking them with water and not trying to bathe them with my good graces. But, then again it’s not my job to clean up their act. It’s my role to give a hand to those in danger of drowning or to be a buddy to those I swim alongside.

I have learned I am a teacher. Although not by degree, I have become one by degrees. It was never a personal goal. It had to have been God’s predetermined plan. It had to have come from a wrenching in my gut about the state of my children’s education and a prying of my hands from my own dreams to nurture theirs first. It had to have come from a spiritual calling to a lamb in danger of straying from her purpose.

I have learned I am an administrator. Which sounds boring. But, it means I am able to organize with minimal effort. It means I am able to spread-sheet and chart Plan A with Plans B-Z in mind. It means I would rather be behind that sheet than front-and-center in the room. Some people think I’m better as leader. I think I am best as hero-support.

I have learned I am an encourager. I am words on a page. I am the smile at the coffee counter for those who serve me. I am the voice of counsel for my husband and children. This is my last gift. But, I often see it as my first priority–to lift up others as they learn their own lessons.